Reminiscing Central Asian cuisine doesn't exactly make my taste buds tingle. In the barren nothingness of the Steppe, there was not much on offer in terms of vegetation, hence the inhabitants' age old love of mutton... Bad news for a vegetarian.
On leaving Mongolia and entering China on the Trans-Mongolian Express, the train swapped its wheels and its restaurant carriage to that of Chinese compatibility and I finally saw the back of stinky mutton fat and rock hard bread. Breaking my chopsticks and looking out the carriage window, it was clear that I was still in the arid and relentless Gobi desert. But beyond this desert, this landscape which I had become so acquainted with on my road trip to Mongolia, China's lush environment was abundant with crops, every inch of land seemed to sprout veggies and the wet and warm climate apparently makes cultivation a speedy process, 'Like boom!'. It's a far cry from the bleak and harsh Mongolian terrain.
Beijing's noodle bars and food markets dominate the streets serving copious meat (like Scorpion, Sea-Horse or Silk-worm on a stick), vegetables and fruit - a stark contrast to Mongolian culinary variety. The best and cheapest I found nestled in some of the Hutongs - quaint little alleyways of cobbled paving stones that are littered with resident's laundry hanging out to dry and the sound of moped horns. Dodging the puddles, bicycles and taxis and taking in the aromas drifting from the many street stalls and cafes down one of Beijing's Hutongs is enough to get your taste buds jangling. Halogen-strip lighting beckons you into the local joints which offer some really interesting delights such as:
'The hashed meat mixes the surface'
'The stem burns the delicate chicken'
'Dryly stirfrys before stewing the cow'
If you're just peckish, of course, you could just go for the 'One article fresh and one small sheep leg', and, unlike Mongolia, there are also options for us veggies, 'The Joss-stick mixes needle mushroom gold'
'Fierce appearance point pepper'
Or simply, 'Harsh Cabbage'.
Feeling experimental? Then go for the, 'Fragrant imperial concubine mutton strip'. If like me, you can't stomach the Mongolian favourite, you could try the curious, 'Xinjiang does not need criticism red'. Sounds spicy...
What's depressing about this contrast of Mongolian mutton vs. Chinese chopsticks is knowing that at the time I left Mongolia, the weather was about to drop below zero and stay that way until Spring - the most unpredictable and dreaded season on the Mongolian calendar. Winter in Mongolia is probably what gives Mongolians their robust reputation and open minded outlook. Temperatures drop to -40, and stay below freezing for up to six months, making it impossible to grow any vegetables and tough to keep livestock living. Many Mongolians don't make it through the winter. City dwellers in Ulaanbaatar have it slightly easier being within civilisation, which is why more and more Mongolians are giving up their nomadic ways and pitching up their gers in the capital, if they can afford a ger and a 'Hasha' - a family ger enclosure costing $15. The city has an employment rate of around 40% and is becoming more crowded every year with not enough business to accommodate the new arrivals' job hunting. There is a high level of alcoholism with the men and there are hundreds of street children, many of whom live underground to escape the cold and get warmth from the heating pipes that connect with the city's buildings, when they are switched on. The poorest families in the suburbs survive only off sheep's heads and often have to chose between buying fuel or food, to starve and be warm or eat and freeze?
Of course China has its own problems with poverty also, but since the Olympics came to town, beggars have been moved along out of sight from international tourists in Beijing. Just one of the many alterations Beijing and China has made to scrub up for the big games...
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